-RFE/RL/ U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump (left) and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton arrive on stage for the first presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, on September 26.Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her Republican opponent, Donald Trump, clashed in their first one-on-one debate on September 26, a contest that featured sharp insults and verbal sparring throughout the evening.
Here’s a look at what the two rivals in the November 8 election said on issues ranging from national security to the economy to race relations to Russian hacking.
On Alleged Russian Hacking
Clinton: “Increasingly, we are seeing cyberattacks coming from states, organs of states. The most recent and troubling of these has been Russia. There’s no doubt now that Russia has used cyberattacks against all kinds of organizations in our country, and I am deeply concerned about this. I know Donald’s very praiseworthy of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin, but Putin is playing a really tough, long game here. And one of the things he’s done is to let loose cyberattackers to hack into government files, to hack into personal files, hack into the Democratic National Committee [DNC]. And we recently have learned that, you know, that this is one of their preferred methods of trying to wreak havoc and collect information.”
Trump: “I don’t think anybody knows it was Russia that broke into the DNC. She’s saying Russia, Russia, Russia, but I don’t — maybe it was. I mean, it could be Russia, but it could also be China. It could also be lots of other people. It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds, OK? You don’t know who broke in to DNC.”
On NATO
Clinton: “NATO as a military alliance has something called Article 5, and basically it says this: An attack on one is an attack on all. And you know the only time it’s ever been invoked? After 9/11, when the 28 nations of NATO said that they would go to Afghanistan with us to fight terrorism, something that they still are doing by our side.”
Trump: “We pay approximately 73 percent of the cost of NATO. It’s a lot of money to protect other people. But I’m all for NATO. But I said they have to focus on terror, also. And they’re going to do that. And that was — believe me — I’m sure I’m not going to get credit for it — but that was largely because of what I was saying and my criticism of NATO.”
On The Extremist Islamic State Group
Trump: “You know what, it’s no different than this, she’s telling us how to fight [Islamic State In Iraq and Syria] ISIS, just go to her website, she tells you how to fight ISIS on her website, I don’t think General Douglas MacArthur [U.S. Pacific commander in World War II] would like that too much.”
Clinton: “At least I have a plan to fight ISIS.”
Trump: “No, no. You’re telling the enemy everything you want to do.”
Clinton: “No, we are not. No, we are not.”
Trump: “See, you’re telling the enemy everything you want to do. No wonder you’ve been fighting…no wonder you’ve been fighting ISIS your entire adult life.”
Clinton: “Well… that’s…go to the fact checker. Get to work.”
On Race, Politics, And Crime
Trump: “The African-American community has been let down by our politicians. They talk good around election time, like right now, and after the election, they said, see ya later, I’ll see you in four years. The African-American community — because, look, the community within the inner cities has been so badly treated. They’ve been abused and used in order to get votes by Democrat politicians, because that’s what it is. They’ve controlled these communities for up to 100 years.”
Clinton: “Race remains a significant challenge in our country. Unfortunately, race still determines too much, often determines where people live, determines what kind of education in their public schools they can get, and, yes, it determines how they’re treated in the criminal justice system…. We have to restore trust between communities and the police. We have to work to make sure that our police are using the best training, the best techniques, that they’re well prepared to use force only when necessary. Everyone should be respected by the law, and everyone should respect the law.”
On Gun Control
Clinton: “I believe strongly that commonsense gun-safety measures would assist us. Right now — and this is something Donald has supported, along with the gun lobby — right now, we’ve got too many military- style weapons on the streets. In a lot of places, our police are outgunned. We need comprehensive background checks, and we need to keep guns out of the hands of those who will do harm. And we finally need to pass a prohibition on anyone who’s on the terrorist watch list from being able to buy a gun in our country. If you’re too dangerous to fly, you are too dangerous to buy a gun.”
Trump: “You take the gun away from criminals that shouldn’t be having it. We have gangs roaming the street. And in many cases, they’re illegally here, illegal immigrants. And they have guns. And they shoot people. And we have to be very strong. And we have to be very vigilant. We have to be — we have to know what we’re doing. Right now, our police, in many cases, are afraid to do anything. We have to protect our inner cities, because African-American communities are being decimated by crime, decimated.”
Clinton: “[Trump’s] cavalier attitude about nuclear weapons is so deeply troubling. That is the No. 1 threat we face in the world. And it becomes particularly threatening if terrorists ever get their hands on any nuclear material. So a man who can be provoked by a tweet should not have his fingers anywhere near the nuclear codes, as far as I think anyone with any sense about this should be concerned.”
Trump: “I have much better judgment than she does. There’s no question about that. I also have a much better temperament than she has, you know?… I think my strongest asset, maybe by far, is my temperament. I have a winning temperament. I know how to win.”
